National Children's Study (NCS)

The NCS was a planned large-scale, long-term study of U.S. children and their mothers and fathers designed to study environmental influences on child health and development. It was authorized by the Children’s Health Act of 2000.

The NCS Vanguard (Pilot) Study began in 2009, testing methods and procedures planned for use in a larger Main Study. When recruitment ended in July 2013, the Vanguard Study had enrolled approximately 5,000 children in 40 locations across the country.

The planned NCS Main Study would have followed 100,000 children from before birth to age 21. However, the NIH Director decided to close the NCS on December 12, 2014, following the advice of an expert review group.